LAST-MILE CONNECTIONS: HELPING SHOPPERS MOVE FROM ONLINE SEARCH TO SHOWROOM VISIT.

Transcription

1 LAST-MILE CONNECTIONS: HELPING SHOPPERS MOVE FROM ONLINE SEARCH TO SHOWROOM VISIT

2 THE LAST-MILE PROBLEM Do you have one? Many businesses do, but it s probably best described by the telecommunications industry. They coined the phrase because the last connection that last mile between their network and an individual customer causes the most headaches. (Who would think it d be more problematic to go from the street to a single house than it is to stretch lines from Los Angeles to Atlanta?) AWARENESS OEM sites, 3rd-party sites like AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, etc., TV ads, banner ads, direct mail Dealerships have a similar issue when it comes to bringing online car shoppers into physical store(s). Getting online traffic to your website or inventory listings is just the first step. The more challenging part is transforming browsers into buyers, especially now that the shopping path is more complex than ever and your customers are often on the go. CONSIDERATION More OEM sites, 3rd-party sites and review sites like KBB.com, Edmunds.com, etc. How do you cut through all the detours, distractions, uncertainties and choices consumers face in the final stretch of the shopping process...and get them to actually connect with you? You have to be present in the places they re shopping to draw them in and then provide fast, relevant help exactly when and where they need it. You have to be the present everywhere, always-on dealership. That s your last-mile challenge. Today s tech-savvy customers have more control over the shopping path than ever, but that doesn t mean you can t pave the way from website to your dealership s front door, making that last-mile connection the simplest one. ENGAGEMENT Social media, DealerRater.com, 3rd-party sites, dealership sites, etc. Challenge Accepted! PURCHASE Dealership sites & stores Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 2

3 Capturing consumer engagement points throughout the mobile path to purchase is essential...to reach consumers when they are most open to options for fulfilling their purchase needs Bill Dinan, president of Telmetrics Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 3

4 CHOOSING THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS Since the path to purchase is so diversified now, dealers need to engage in new ways across multiple channels and platforms to connect with car shoppers as they re making decisions and creating relationships. After all, 83% of online shoppers need some form of support. 1 Provide the easiest and most helpful connections in the most places, and you ll get more sales opportunities. What Connections Should You Use? Traditionally, the industry s gold standards of communications have been the lead form and the phone. Both continue to play important roles in the auto-shopping process, but some of the shine has worn off. As mobile use continues to rise particularly for last mile shopping it s time to follow the customers lead. Like one dealer group s digital marketing director pointed out, mobile customers are much less likely to complete a contact form. 2 In fact, one of the best improvements he says he made was adding the option to text. Giving shoppers, especially those mobile shoppers, text-based connection options in addition to traditional phone and lead forms can help you snag more potential buyers. Percentage of Identifiable Shoppers Who Purchased a Vehicle * after connecting with a dealership via the following methods 33 % Chat 28 % Phone Call 22 % Text *Based on 3 separate IHS Automotive/Polk analyses commissioned by Contact At Once! in 2012 and In those studies, IHS Automotive/Polk matched shoppers who provided personally identifiable information via either chats, texts or phone calls to households with vehicle sales. Let s look at some numbers. Contact At Once! asked IHS Automotive to analyze thousands of consumer connections from chats, texts and phone calls: In households of identified shoppers who chatted, about one-third ended up purchasing a car. Another analysis of shoppers who phoned produced sales matches in 28% of households. Consumers who chatted converted to sales at higher rates than phone-based communications (33% vs. 28%), pointing toward the growing preference of real-time, messaging-based help as shoppers browse. A third test of shoppers who texted uncovered sales in 22% of households. In other words, if you re limiting shoppers to phone and form, you could be missing the chance to connect with buyers who prefer to chat or text! Almost 1 in 4 consumers who opted to text with a dealership ultimately purchased a vehicle. Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 4

5 Your Takeaway: Mix It Up Instead of trying to funnel shoppers into your preferred communication mode (or what you re used to), let them choose what s most convenient at the moment. You may create preference for your dealership simply by offering multiple ways to get questions answered. Bottom line: Don t disconnect your phone, but do incorporate messaging technologies, which convert to sales at similar rates and open doors to mobile shoppers with whom lead forms take a back seat. Edmunds.com 3 found that calling (33.5%), ing (32.5%) and texting (34%) were equally popular with shoppers starting the sales process. And as the earlier IHS Automotive data showed, a variety of connection methods lead to sales, too. The result can mean more interaction and more sales opportunities for you! Text and chat options give your dealership a 24/7 always-on presence that s just not possible if you re relying solely on phone and/or lead forms, both of which limit when and how fast you re able to respond. And speed is of the essence. 4 Car shoppers simply won t wait. In a Dataium study last year, half the shoppers who filled out lead forms followed up with a chat in less than 24 hours...and almost half of those chatted within 30 minutes of submitting a lead form! 5 (In fact, auto shoppers were also four times more likely to submit a lead after chatting.) Chat conversations can actually add connections the dealer may not have otherwise made (78.8% additional leads 5 on average, according to that Dataium study)! The dealership that offers the most options to connect in the most places and is present the most often wins. So why limit yourself? Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 5

6 You wouldn t even consider disconnecting your phone, but if you don t also have chat and text, you re missing sales Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 6

7 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Here are some last mile tips and techniques to go beyond phone lines and lead forms, close communication gaps and make connecting with online shoppers easier than ever. Be Interactive Everywhere Interactive connections (real conversations) between shopper and dealership staff are ideal. Shoppers get help as they research, and you capture their attention no more playing follow-up and hoping you reach them before a competitor. And consider this: A third of car shoppers visited additional dealerships because of a mobile ad they saw while at a dealership. 6 Imagine the impact if you could immediately answer showrooming shoppers questions right from that ad. What to do: $ Enable instant, two-way communications on your dealer websites, thirdparty inventory listings, manufacturer sites, review sites, etc., so it s easy to connect everywhere. Offer messaging-based alternatives for those instant interactions, like live chat & text, for consumers who don t have the time (or desire) to talk on the phone. Plan Connections for Mobile Shoppers 71 % of car shoppers use smartphones to research % more likely to visit an additional dealership % mobile ad they saw while on a dealer lot. 6 visited a competing dealership because of a 54 % a vehicle & 20% planned to in the near future. 8 of car shoppers who researched on mobile purchased Power up your online & mobile ads (auto shoppers are 71% more likely 7 to be influenced by digital ads compared to others). Contact At Once!, for example, can embed chat or text calls to action in almost any ad, which then route directly to your dealership team, call center or managed chat support. Offer Help At the Point Of Need Plan communications around not only where the car shopper is researching (your site, online advertising site, etc.), but also the device being used. After all, the majority use mobile devices to research...and they re 72% more likely to visit an additional dealership than non-mobile users because of the information they gather. 6 What to do: Ensure contact options remain easy to find & use on desktop, tablet & smartphone versions of websites (67% start shopping on one device & continue on another 9 ). Consider click-to-call numbers, click-to-text or on-screen live chat options that responsively adapt to screen size. These tend to be most convenient, especially on smartphones, because of the screen size and timeliness of responses. 7

8 Create Presence Everywhere, All the Time If more shoppers are choosing the contact options that promise real-time connections (phone, text and chat), is anyone there to actually...well, connect? They better be. Online shoppers aren t all that patient: 82% expect access to help within five minutes, 31% expect it immediately, and almost half will go elsewhere if that expectation isn t met. 1 What to do: Maximize team accessibility. Choose chat or text solutions that provide mobile app access, so your team can be online & ready to answer no matter where they are. (Ensure that there s automatic tracking & integration between app, platform & CRM so no leads or data are lost.) Consider managed chat & text so someone is always there to help shoppers. While your dealership staff has the most in-depth knowledge of the vehicles you sell, they may not always be available. But you don t want to delay helping a shopper navigate that last mile of research! Your communications provider may offer answering support, such as Contact At Once! s Virtual Receptionist service, where sales associates trained in your brand answer chats & texts on your behalf as needed. Actually Offer Help Even a small amount of uncertainty can offroad a sale, especially with high-investment purchases like vehicles. It s why shoppers spend so much time researching and why your focus should be more on providing answers and advice via your connection points...a little less on gathering all the contact information at the very beginning. (Face it: We re all guilty of lead obsession.) Alleviate a shopper s uncertainty, and their first connection might not be their last. The opportunity to connect [online] with a real person who has a specific product or department expertise is one of the top 10 trends changing the retail industry. 12 What to do: Use a give-&-take approach, like this tip from a dealership s marketing director: Once you ve answered the shopper s immediate question, provide your direct contact & ask for theirs. 10 Provide accurate information & real advice. Take BMW s Genius Everywhere program, 11 where specially trained employees talk with shoppers about vehicles & the different tech features. It s boosted customer satisfaction & the purchase of high-margin sales options. Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 8

9 Stay Connected Did you know that only about a third of test drivers end up buying that day? 13 You don t want to let the rest detour too far, though, because 79% buy within a week of that test drive. So while most shopper-dealer connections are initiated by the shopper, there are times (like these) when you can be a little more proactive. What to do: Employ a smart, multi-pronged follow-up process, including text. Since shoppers themselves employ multiple communications to ask questions, do the same when following up. Mix up phone calls, s & permission-based text messages (like those from Contact At Once! Mobile Text Connect), starting with the same method the shopper used. DID YOU KNOW? One Contact At Once! dealer customer has seen over 50% of previously unresponsive leads respond to texts as part of their follow-up process. 14 If using text, don t forget the importance of quick responses. Text messages can keep a sales conversation alive for days, right in the pocket of the shopper...if handled correctly. So pay attention & respond quickly to questions, treating it as a phone call that just happens to be typed out. Track engagement & offer behavioral incentives (especially for those who haven t come in to test drive yet). With the right tools, you can pinpoint the most interested online shoppers & give them an extra nudge, from getting them talking to encouraging a visit. Contact At Once! s dynamic engagement toolset, for example, lets you view live website visitor activity & proactively (& automatically) engage them with relevant chat invitations/offers based on their behavior. Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 9

10 FINISH STRONG So are you ready to go the last mile? A lot of thought, effort and money is spent building a strong online presence and driving traffic to your sites. A lot of thought, effort and training go into your store environment and selling techniques. But it s that last mile between shoppers finishing their research and choosing the dealership where the majority of opportunities go missing. The more convenient you make it for shoppers to connect with your team during that time, the more chances you have to influence their final choice and finish stronger than ever. WANT HELP GETTING STARTED & FINISHING STRONG? We re always happy to help you better connect with current (and future) buyers! So check out more of Contact At Once! s downloadable resources, read our blog and reach out with any questions. Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 10

11 RESOURCES 1. LivePerson. The Ideal Online Experience liveperson.com/connecting-with-customers-infographic.html 2. DrivingSales Innovation Guide. Mobile Conversions. Chad Sabatka. July Edmunds.com Car Shopping Trends. www. edmunds.com/industry-center/car-shopping-trends/ 4. Automotive News. Dealers Should Respond to Questions Quickly or Internet Shoppers Will Leave. David Barkholz. January 27, should-respond-to-questions-quickly-or-internet-shoppers-will- 5. Dataium. Better Interactions, Better Results Cars.com Insights - Placed Inc. Mobile Device Use at the Dealership: How Smartphone Shopping Is Impacting Automotive Retailing. January uploads/2014/01/placed-mobile-device-use-study-jan-2014.pdf 7. AdWeek. Study: Auto Shoppers 71% More Influenced by Digital Ads. Mobile and Video Make Big Impact, Says IAB. Christopher Heine. January 13, study-auto-shoppers-71-more-influenced-digital-ads xad - Telmetrics Mobile Path to Purchase Study. June Google. The New Multi-Screen World: Understanding Cross-Platform Consumer Behavior. August com/research-studies/the-new-multi-screen-world-study.html 10. Dealer Marketing Magazine. Three Simple Changes for Increasing Your Internet Sales Now! Megan S. Barto. April com/internet-marketing/online-marketing/3329-three-simple-changesfor-increasing-your-internet-sales-now?utm_source=dm%20weekly% &utm_medium= &utm_campaign=DM%20Weekly 11. Automotive News. Geniuses Smart Move for Dealers, BMW Says. Luca Ciferri. May 5, RETAIL07/ /geniuses-smart-move-for-dealers-bmw-says 12. Mobile Commerce Daily. Sears Taps Into the Potential of Live Chat. Michelle Saettler. April 28, com/sears-taps-into-the-potential-of-live-chat 13. Edmunds.com Car Shopping Trends Report. static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/car-news/datacenter/2014/shopping-report/edmunds-shopping-report-2014.pdf 14. AutoDealerChat.com. Dealer Text Tips: Jake Sweeney Chevrolet. Aaron Hassen. April 18, autodealerchat.com/jake-sweeney-chevrolet 15. Search Engine Watch. 60% of Consumers Use Mobile Exclusively to Make Purchase Decisions [Study]. Jessica Lee. June 3, Use-Mobile-Exclusively-to-Make-Purchase-Decisions-Study Contact At Once! Last-Mile Connections 11

12 BE EVERYWHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE, READY TO RESPOND Contact At Once! software boosts engagement by making it easy for consumers to connect with auto dealers and ask questions at the moment their interest is piqued. More engagement can translate into more sales, and that s why 13,000 dealers, the world s busiest automotive classified sites and many automotive manufacturers rely on the Contact At Once! digital conversations platform to build relationships with online shoppers. In fact, we ve been #1 in dealer satisfaction for 4 years running at the DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards. Call or Text: marketing@contactatonce.com CONTACT AT ONCE!, LLC ALL OTHER TRADEMARKS ARE RECOGNIZED AS PROPRIETARY TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. 12